Alexander Murray (linguist)
Alexander Murray
Life
Murray was born on 22 October 1775, at Dunkitterick, Kirkcudbrightshire, where his father, Robert Murray, was a shepherd and farm labourer.[1]
Up until 1792, he had had little more than a year at school, but was self-taught in languages, and had worked as a tutor as well as a shepherd. He translated Arnold Drackenburg's German lectures on Roman authors, and when he visited Dumfries with his version in 1794, after unsuccessfully offering it to two separate publishers, he met Robert Burns, who gave him advice.[2]
The father of
Murray early formed the acquaintance of
In 1811 Murray translated, with approbation, a letter for
Murray entered on his work at the end of October 1812, publishing Outlines of Oriental Philology (1812), for the use of his students. He lectured through the winter, against his strength, attracting both students and literary men to his room. His health completely gave way in the spring, and he died of consumption in Edinburgh, 15 April 1813.[2]
He is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh, immediately north of the church.
Murray's Monument, an eighty-foot stone obelisk to his memory, was erected near his birthplace in 1835, and it received an inscription in 1877. It is north of the A712 road between Newton Stewart and New Galloway, in the Galloway Forest Park.
Artistic recognition
His portrait by Andrew Geddes, formerly in the possession of Archibald Constable, went to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh.[2]
Works
Through Leyden, Murray became a contributor to the
Murray's early promise then faded, but he was an influential editor and biographer. His major work, the History of the European Languages, or Researches into the Affinities of the Teutonic, Greek, Celtic, Slavonic, and Indian Nations, was edited by David Scot, and published, with a detailed Life, by
To the Edinburgh Review of 1803 Murray contributed a review of Charles Vallancey's Prospectus of an Irish Dictionary; to the number for January 1804 he furnished an article on James Stanier Clarke's Progress of Maritime Discovery; and in January 1805 he discussed Thomas Maurice's History of Hindostan. His Letters to Charles Stuart, M.D., appeared in 1813. He figures as a lyrist on his "Native Vale" in Malcolm McLachlan Harper's Bards of Galloway.[2]
Family
Murray married, 9 December 1808, Henrietta Affleck, daughter of a parishioner. At his death he left her a widow, with a son and daughter.; she survived about twelve years, supported by a government pension of £80, which had been granted to her in return for Murray's translation of the Abyssinian letter. The daughter died of consumption in 1821, and the son, who was practically adopted by Archibald Constable, qualified for a ship surgeon, and was drowned on his first voyage.[2]
References
- ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bayne 1894.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19588. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bayne, Thomas Wilson (1894). "Murray, Alexander (1775-1813)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co.